Application of the 2-D constant strain assumption to FEM elements consisting of an arbitrary number of nodes

The formulation for the constant strain element is revisited to develop multi-noded elements that can be used as transition elements in a finite element mesh. Although the constant strain approach is computationally attractive, spurious force-free displacement modes arise for elements consisting of more than three nodes. These unstable mode shapes are typified by “hourglassing” which develops in quadrilateral elements when constant strain is assumed within the element. The means for stabilizing spurious mode shapes for quadrilateral elements is well documented in the literature, however, in this paper, a general formulation for stabilizing forces is presented for elements having an arbitrary number of nodes and therefore is not restricted to quadrilateral elements. This paper examines the use of meshes consisting of constant strain elements created from polygons having differing numbers of element nodes. The effectiveness of the stabilization procedure is illustrated along with “patch test” examples to assess the consistency of the approximation. The elements are shown to be surprisingly robust, yielding reasonable results even when poorly designed mesh transitions are used.     

Stabilized finite‐element computation of compressible flow with linear and quadratic interpolation functions

The unsteady compressible flow equations are solved using a stabilized finite‐element formulation with C⁰ elements. In 2D, the performance of three‐noded linear and six‐noded quadratic triangular elements is compared. In 3D, the relative performance is evaluated for 6‐noded linear and 18‐noded quadratic wedge elements. Results are compared for the solutions to Euler, laminar, and turbulent flows at different Mach numbers for several flow problems. The finite‐element meshes considered for comparison have same location of nodes for the linear and quadratic interpolations. For the turbulent flow, the Spalart–Allmaras model is used for closure. It is found that the quadratic elements yield better performance than the linear elements. This is attributed to accurate representation of the stabilization terms that involve second‐order derivatives in the formulation. When these terms are dropped from the formulation with quadratic interpolation, the numerical results are similar to those obtained with linear interpolation. The absence of these terms result in added numerical diffusion that seems to give the effect of a relatively reduced Reynolds number. For the same location of nodes, the computations with the linear triangular and wedge elements are approximately 20% and 100% faster than those with quadratic triangular and wedge elements, respectively. However, if the same quadrature rule for numerical integration is used for both interpolations, the computations with quadratic elements are approximately 20% and 45% faster in 2D and 3D, respectively. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New accurate efficient modeling techniques for the vibration analysis of T-joint thin-walled box structures

We propose new accurate efficient modeling techniques for the vibration analysis of T-joint thin-walled box structures. The essence of the present techniques is to use beam elements to model thin-walled members of the joint, but the elements are based on an eight-degree-of-freedom (8-DOF) beam theory capable of handling warping and distortion. Two approaches are considered to model the interfacing joint region connected to three adjacent thin-walled box structures: the first one is to model the joint region with plate elements and the second one is to use a joint element derived to be consistent with nearby 8-DOF beam elements. The efficiency of the present techniques comes from the use of beam elements to model the box structures while the accuracy comes from the use of the higher-order beam theory accounting for warping and distortion. The procedures to match the dissimilar elements and to develop the joint element are also presented in this work. The effectiveness of the present approaches is demonstrated by numerical examples.     

The use of graded finite elements in the study of elastic wave propagation in continuously nonhomogeneous materials

Finite elements with graded properties are used to simulate elastic wave propagation in functionally graded materials. The graded elements are formulated with continuously nonhomogeneous material property fields and compared to conventionally formulated homogeneous elements. An example problem is solved for the two-dimensional case to show the potential benefits of the graded formulation. It is observed that the conventional elements give a discontinuous stress field in the direction perpendicular to the material property gradient, while the graded elements give a continuous distribution. In the one-dimensional case, the solutions are compared to the analytical solutions by Chiu and Erdogan [J. Sound Vib. 222 (3) (1999) 453]. The results show that for identical levels of mesh refinement, the graded formulation produces similar spatial resolution, and temporal resolution for the range of boundary value problems studied. Observations are explained and their implications for numerical modeling are discussed.     

Reserve ability of parallel system with failed elements

The aim of the analysis is to define for a system with parallel elements conditions at which the failure of one or several elements does not cause immediate failure of the whole system. The critical number of failed elements of such a system is assessed based on the strength probability properties of its structural elements. The condition of the catastrophic failure of the whole system is defined by the shape and scale parameters of the strength probability function and the number of parallel elements. The proposed probabilistic model allows estimating the ability of the parallel systems to continue operation when some of its elements are broken.     

Elasto-plastic behaviour of double-curved shells under a concentrated load

The paper presents the application of the so-called geometrical elements method to the solution of the elasto-plastic behaviour of spherical shells subjected to an axisymmetrical concentrated load. The approach is based on the observation that during large deformations, the shell structure deforms in a nearly isometrical manner. The shell is sub-divided into elements of two kinds: purely-isometrically deformed elements and quasi-isometrically deformed elements. Equilibrium of the structure is defined by the stationariness of the total potential energy. The total energy is compared with Pogorelov's result for the same strain energy. The solution obtained defines the large deformation behaviour and motion of the plastic zones on the surface of the shell.A simplified solution for similar problems of the shells with double positive Gaussian curvature is also presented.     

REGULARIZATION OF NEARLY SINGULAR INTEGRALS IN THE BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHOD OF POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

IntroductionAsanimportantnumericalmethod ,BoundaryElementMethod (BEM)hasbeenappliedinmanyareas[1].However,theBEMhasthedifficultiesofcalculatingsingularintegralsatnodesonboundaryoratinteriorpointsveryclosetotheboundary .TheaccuracyoftheBEMdependsontheprecisionofthecalculatedvaluesofthesingularintegrals,toagreatdegree.Manyresearchersdevotethemselvestothetreatmentofthesingularintegrals[2～3],whicharereviewedindetailbyRef.[4] .Ageneralregularizationalgorithmofevaluatingthephysicalquantitiesa…     

模拟裂纹扩展的一种有限元局部动态子划分方法

提出了一种有限元子划分结合子结构的方法来模拟裂纹扩展问题。提出的方法中,将单元分为三类:被裂纹贯穿的单元,包含裂尖的单元和常规单元。对前两类单元进行子划分,每个单元的归类随裂纹的扩展而动态变化。覆盖一条裂纹的前两类单元子划分后构成一个子结构,子结构也是动态的,跟随裂纹的扩展而逐步扩大。本文的方法可以使裂纹沿任意路径扩展而不受初始网格的限制,裂纹扩展后无需对结构整体的网格重划分,结构整体分析的总自由度也不变。用该方法计算无限大平面中心裂纹的应力强度因子,模拟三点弯梁跨中裂纹的扩展,验证了计算精度,并进一步用该方法模拟了非均质材料中裂纹的扩展,考核了对复杂裂纹扩展问题的适用性。     

A study of properties of adaptive quadratic grids for three-dimensional near-surface field computations

Curved geometries and the corresponding near-surface fields typically require a large number of linear computational elements. High-order numerical solvers have been primarily used with low-order meshes. There is a need for curved, high-order computational elements. Typical near-surface meshes consist of hexahedral and/or prismatic elements. The present work studies the employment of quadratic meshes that are relatively coarse for field simulations. Directionally quadratic high-order elements are proposed for the near-surface field regions. The quadratic meshes are compared with the conventional low-order ones in terms of accuracy and efficiency. The cases considered include closed surface volume calculations, as well as computation of gradients of several analytic fields. A special method of adaptive local quadratic meshes is proposed and evaluated. Truncation error analysis for quadratic grids yields comparison with the conventional linear hexahedral/prismatic meshes, which are subject to typical distortions such as stretching, skewness, and torsion.     

二维正交各向异性位势问题的高阶单元快速多极边界元法

研制了一种适用于二维正交各向异性位势问题的高阶单元(线性单元和二次单元)快速多极边界元法.在快速多极边界元法中,源点对于远场区域的积分采用快速多极展开式计算,而对于近场区域的积分则直接进行计算.高阶单元的使用使得近场积分,尤其是奇异积分和几乎奇异积分的计算更加复杂.通过引入复数表达对其进行简化,若边界采用线性单元插值,...     

Variational base and solution strategies for non-linear force-based beam finite elements

This paper presents the variational bases for the non-linear force-based beam elements. The element state determination of these elements is obtained exactly from a two-field functional with independent stress and strain fields. The variational base of the non-linear force-based beam elements implemented in a general purpose displacement-based finite element program requires the inclusion of independent displacement field in the formulation. For this purpose, a three-field functional is considered with independent displacement, stress, and strain fields. Various local and global solution strategies come out from the mixed formulation of the beam element, and these are shown to yield the algorithms presented for non-linear force formulation beam elements in literature; thus removing any doubts on their variational bases. The presented numerical examples demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the solution algorithms adapted for mixed formulation elements over popularly used displacement-based beam finite elements even for large structural systems.     

A quadratic-element formulation of the complex variable boundary element method

The complex variable boundary element method (CVBEM) for simply connected domains is extended to include the use of quadratic elements and interpolating functions. The derivation follows the format for linear elements given in the literature, with second-degree Lagrange polynomials taken as the interpolating functions. The quadratic-element CVBEM nodal- and interior-point equations are given in detail, and the resulting formulation is successfully tested by solving example problems with available analytical solutions. Comparisons of computational efficiency and accuracy are made between the solutions obtained using linear and quadratic elements. Additional comparisons are made using published results from other boundary element methods.     

Improvements in the reliability and quality of unstructured hybrid mesh generation

This paper presents a reliable and automated approach to the generation of unstructured hybrid grids comprised of tetrahedra, prisms and pyramids for high Reynolds number viscous flow simulations. To enhance robustness, the hybrid mesh generation process starts with the formation of an isotropic tetrahedral grid. Prismatic layers are then added on no‐slip walls fully automatically by obeying user‐specified boundary conditions and three parameters: the number of the layers, an initial layer thickness normal to the walls, and a stretching factor. Topological modifications to the original isotropic tetrahedral elements are prohibited during the layer generation process. The tetrahedral elements near no‐slip walls are shifted inward and the resulting gap between the tetrahedra and the walls is filled up with prismatic elements. To enhance the quality of the prismatic layers around sharp corners, two normals are evaluated for the marching process in these regions. The addition of prismatic elements is locally stopped if negative‐volume elements are created or not enough space is left. An angle‐based smoothing method ensures that the quality of the tetrahedral elements is retained for a reasonable computational cost. The method is demonstrated for two scaled experimental supersonic airplane models designed at the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL). Numerical results are compared with wind tunnel experimental data. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study on spline wavelet finite-element method in multi-scale analysis for foundation

A new finite element method （FEM） of B-spline wavelet on the interval （BSWI） is proposed. Through analyzing the scaling functions of BSWI in one dimension, the basic formula for 2D FEM of BSWI is deduced. The 2D FEM of 7 nodes and 10 nodes are constructed based on the basic formula. Using these proposed elements, the multiscale numerical model for foundation subjected to harmonic periodic load, the foundation model excited by external and internal dynamic load are studied. The results show the pro- posed finite elements have higher precision than the tradi- tional elements with 4 nodes. The proposed finite elements can describe the propagation of stress waves well whenever the foundation model excited by extemal or intemal dynamic load. The proposed finite elements can be also used to con- nect the multi-scale elements. And the proposed finite elements also have high precision to make multi-scale analysis for structure.     

A Direct Method for the Generation of Shape Functions of Any Desired Continuity for Rectangular Finite Elements

Abstract

A direct method is presented for the generation of shape functions for rectangular finite elements, with any desired continuity of the shape functions across the interelement boundaries, i.e., the shape functions can be of any prescribed class C^N, N = 0, 1, 2, 3 …. The method is illustrated with seven examples, four of which are previously published elements. The other three examples represent new elements, two of which are conforming C¹ elements, and the third one is of class C². One of the C1 elements and the C² element reproduce exactly all the terms up to the sextic polynomial.     

On the formulation of the planar ANCF triangular finite elements

In this paper, new planar isoparametric triangular finite elements (FE) based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) are developed. The proposed ANCF elements have six coordinates per node: two position coordinates that define the absolute position vector of the node and four gradient coordinates that define vectors tangent to coordinate lines (parameters) at the same node. To shed light on the importance of the element geometry and to facilitate the development of some of the new elements presented in this paper, two different parametric definitions of the gradient vectors are used. The first parametrization, called area parameterization, is based on coordinate lines along the sides of the element in the reference configuration, while the second parameterization, called Cartesian parameterization, employs coordinate lines defined along the axes of the structure (body) coordinate system. The fundamental differences between the ANCF parameterizations used in this investigation and the parametrizations used for conventional finite elements are highlighted. The Cartesian parameterization serves as a unique standard for the triangular FE assembly. To this end, a transformation matrix that defines the relationship between the area and the Cartesian parameterizations is introduced for each element in order to allow for the use of standard FE assembly procedure and define the structure (body) inertia and elastic forces. Using Bezier geometry and a linear mapping, cubic displacement fields of the new ANCF triangular elements are systematically developed. Specifically, two new ANCF triangular finite elements are developed in this investigation, namely four-node mixed-coordinate and three-node ANCF triangles. The performance of the proposed new ANCF elements is evaluated by comparison with the conventional linear and quadratic triangular elements as well as previously developed ANCF rectangular and triangular elements. The results obtained in this investigation show that in the case of small and large deformations as well as finite rotations, all the elements considered can produce correct results, which are in a good agreement if appropriate mesh sizes are used.     

Polar coordinate transformation approach for treatment of singular integrals in boundary element methods

In boundary element methods the treatment of singular integrals, as one of the main numerical problems has been noticed seriously. In this paper, by using polar coordinate transformation for elements a new approach is proposed to remove the singularities in the integrals explicitly. The formulations for treatment of the singularities in quadrilateral boundary elements with four nodes, eight nodes and nine nodes are derived and it can be extended easily to other higher order boundary elements. Numerical examples are given. The results show the present approach is effective and efficient.     

新型p型板单元及其在结构振动分析中的应用

利用Legendre正交多项式作为形函数基底函数,开发了两种新型的通用p型板单元.单元矩阵的解析积分保证了p型有限单元解的精确性及单调收敛性,计算实例表明所开发的p型有限单元计算结果随基底函数中附加项数量的增加而快速收敛,且它们的计算精度远高于一般线性单元.另外,p型板单元不使用缩减积分也能分析薄板的振动问题,利用它们收敛率高的特点,分析了结构破坏的时频特性.p型有限单元仿真结果与实测结果良好的吻合证明了它们用于结构振动响应分析的有效性.     

Modeling of voids/cracks and their interactions

Numerical modeling of a two-dimensional elastic body containing multiple voids/cracks to study the interaction between these defects can be significantly simplified by developing special finite elements, each containing an internal circular/elliptic hole or a slit crack. These finite elements are developed using complex potentials and the conformal mapping technique. The elements developed can be divided into two categories, namely, the semi-analytic-type and hybrid-type elements. The latter element type is an improved version of the former due to the implementation of displacement continuity along the inter-element boundary. All the proposed elements can be easily combined with the conventional displacement elements, such as isoparametric elements, to analyze the above-mentioned problems without using complicated finite element meshes. Numerical examples have been employed to illustrate the modeling of voids/cracks and their interactions. The results obtained using the semi-analytic-type elements are in good agreement with the theoretical results, and the corresponding results obtained using the hybrid-type elements show an improvement of the agreement with the theoretical results. However, the former element type is much easier to construct.     

A study of penalty elements for incompressible laminar flows

A finite element model is developed based on the penalty formulation to study incompressible laminar flows. The study includes a number of new quadrilateral and triangular elements for 2-dimensional flows and a number of new hexahedral and tetrahedral elements for 3-dimensional flows. All elements employ continuous velocity approximations and discontinuous pressure approximations respecting the LBB condition of numerical instability. An incremental Newton–Raphson method coupled with the Broyden method is used to solve the non-linear equations. Several numerical examples (colliding flow, cavity flow, etc.) are presented to assess the efficiency of elements.